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Author Topic:   THE REAL PROBLEM!!

zaz posted 03-11-99 09:08 AM ET
Let's stop blaming everyone and everything for the reasons why SMAC crashes on your machine and let's look at the real problem.
As most of us have agreed on other threads in this forum, the average person on this planet isn't real smart. So, since just about anyone can afford a computer, the average person with a computer is Joe Q. Average. All computer games are designed for Joe Q. Average.
So, if the average person with a computer isn't real smart, how come computer manufacturers, game companies, and component manufacturers think anyone can just reconfigure their system everytime they buy new software.
Note: I guarantee you, that the average person (NOT PEOPLE USING THIS FORUM, If you got this far, YOU ARE NOT AN AVERAGE COMPUTER USER) doesn't know how to rename a file, let alone find and install drivers etc. on their machine. I work for a Technology company, and most of the people I work with can't create a new folder on their C:\ Drive or even find a file that they themselves have saved.
TO Firaxis and anyone else in the computer industry (Yes, I am one): While we all appreciate all of the Tech support etc. (especially Jeff Morris). The average person who buys a computer or computer game DOES NOT know how to do the things you are telling them to do, to fix their problems. Just because the majority of the problems you have seen here on this forum have been fixed using your solutions, remember most people who buy your software don't even know about forums or patches etc., and even if they did, they would not know how to download them or follow the instructions for implementing your solutions. 95% of the people who use this forum or any other forum are not AVERAGE computer users.
P.S. - I can now play SMAC crash free. I just have to disable my McAfee VShield version 4.0.2 before I start. Nothing else worked.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS posted 03-11-99 10:11 AM ET
Good points. During compatibility testing we focused on "off the shelf" machines like Packard Bell, Dell, HP, Gateway, IBM, etc. The machines were stock config'd, and we restored to that original condition prior to any run being made on them. These labs allowed us to target the customers your talking about since they are admittedly are the least able to solve technical problems. And in my opinion it worked. Most of the specific HW conflicts I've dealt with related to brand new hardware and extensivly modified stock machines. These are the systems that have new, beta drivers and unique HW configurations. We stayed away from focusing on these users (though certainly not ignoring them) in compatibilty runs because a) we could never even come close to covering every combination b) new hardware is constantly released and picked up by early adopters so it wouldn't make that much of an impact for the testing dollar.
Just my thoughts..
jkm
firaxis games
Pique posted 03-11-99 12:53 PM ET
Just a short note to say I too had frequent crashes before I began to disable McAfee 4.0.2 before starting the game...this seemed to fix them for me as well.
Can't comment on Service as I never even attempted to contact them.
Pique
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Author	Topic: THE REAL PROBLEM!!
zaz	posted 03-11-99 09:08 AM ET Let's stop blaming everyone and everything for the reasons why SMAC crashes on your machine and let's look at the real problem. As most of us have agreed on other threads in this forum, the average person on this planet isn't real smart. So, since just about anyone can afford a computer, the average person with a computer is Joe Q. Average. All computer games are designed for Joe Q. Average. So, if the average person with a computer isn't real smart, how come computer manufacturers, game companies, and component manufacturers think anyone can just reconfigure their system everytime they buy new software. Note: I guarantee you, that the average person (NOT PEOPLE USING THIS FORUM, If you got this far, YOU ARE NOT AN AVERAGE COMPUTER USER) doesn't know how to rename a file, let alone find and install drivers etc. on their machine. I work for a Technology company, and most of the people I work with can't create a new folder on their C:\ Drive or even find a file that they themselves have saved. TO Firaxis and anyone else in the computer industry (Yes, I am one): While we all appreciate all of the Tech support etc. (especially Jeff Morris). The average person who buys a computer or computer game DOES NOT know how to do the things you are telling them to do, to fix their problems. Just because the majority of the problems you have seen here on this forum have been fixed using your solutions, remember most people who buy your software don't even know about forums or patches etc., and even if they did, they would not know how to download them or follow the instructions for implementing your solutions. 95% of the people who use this forum or any other forum are not AVERAGE computer users. P.S. - I can now play SMAC crash free. I just have to disable my McAfee VShield version 4.0.2 before I start. Nothing else worked.
Jeffrey Morris FIRAXIS	posted 03-11-99 10:11 AM ET Good points. During compatibility testing we focused on "off the shelf" machines like Packard Bell, Dell, HP, Gateway, IBM, etc. The machines were stock config'd, and we restored to that original condition prior to any run being made on them. These labs allowed us to target the customers your talking about since they are admittedly are the least able to solve technical problems. And in my opinion it worked. Most of the specific HW conflicts I've dealt with related to brand new hardware and extensivly modified stock machines. These are the systems that have new, beta drivers and unique HW configurations. We stayed away from focusing on these users (though certainly not ignoring them) in compatibilty runs because a) we could never even come close to covering every combination b) new hardware is constantly released and picked up by early adopters so it wouldn't make that much of an impact for the testing dollar. Just my thoughts.. jkm firaxis games
Pique	posted 03-11-99 12:53 PM ET Just a short note to say I too had frequent crashes before I began to disable McAfee 4.0.2 before starting the game...this seemed to fix them for me as well. Can't comment on Service as I never even attempted to contact them. Pique